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Ace Hardware will close its distribution center near Toledo and move the work to a facility to
be built in West Jefferson by the end of next year.

Company officials declined to provide details on the location and size of the central Ohio
distribution center. The Toledo center employs 100.

“We look forward to sharing more information as it becomes available,” said Ace spokeswoman Kate
Kirkpatrick.

However, two sources not authorized to speak for the company confirmed that the distribution
center will be in West Jefferson.

Easy access to I-70 has made West Jefferson an attractive location for industrial parks and
distribution centers, including the 405-acre Park 70 at West Jefferson. Columbus-based Glimcher
Realty Trust is exploring building an outlet mall in the area, just north of I-70.

The Toledo area has relatively few Ace hardware stores. The distribution center handles
merchandise sold in stores in Ohio, northern Kentucky and parts of Michigan.

There are 13 Ace Hardware stores within 50 miles of Columbus, according to the company’s
website.

“Ace’s valued Toledo employees, many of whom are tenured, will be provided with a full range of
transition services during this period of change,” Kirkpatrick said.

Officials in Perrysburg Township, home to the Toledo-area center, were not aware of the closing,
according to
The Blade of Toledo. Records show that the Ace facility occupies about 9,000 square feet.
It was unclear how long the center has been in operation, but it appears to date to the early
1980s,
The Blade reported.

“You hate to see that,” township Trustee Gary Britten told
The Blade. “It’s a shame. You hate to lose any business, much less a place that was always
a good neighbor.”